49ers try out familiar face at defensive end

The 49ers appear ready to make a change or two at defensive end. They’ve released DE Daeshon Hall, and worked out a pair of DEs prior to his release. Now they’ve had another edge rusher in for a workout. San Francisco on Monday hosted their former DE Anthony Zettel for a workout according to the league’s transaction wire.

Zettel might be a familiar name to 49ers fans after he spent part of the 2019 season in red and gold. The 28-year-old Penn State alum played in a regular season game and all three playoff games for San Francisco during the 2019 campaign. Last year he played in just one game for New Orleans.

The Lions drafted Zettel in 2016 while 49ers defensive line coach Kris Kocurek was the defensive line coach in Detroit. Zettel spent two seasons in Detroit, one in Cleveland, and part of year in Cincinnati before joining the 49ers.

Zettel has played in 50 games across five seasons and has 7.5 sacks – all of which came during his first two seasons in the league.

The 49ers don’t have great defensive end depth, so it makes sense that they’d aim to improve that in camp. They already worked out Eddie Yarbrough and Justus Reed. Now Zettel is in the mix to join the roster if the club needs to make an addition at defensive end.